Instructions
Essay # 2 essay will deal with the decisions of American policymakers at the crucial stages of American involvement in Vietnam, including “nation building.”
“No one starts a war–or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so–without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.”
“…first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish … the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its true nature. This is the first of all strategic questions and the most comprehensive.”
…quotes from Carl Von Clausewitz, On War
With these quotes in mind, write an essay that analyzes what you think were the key American decisions about Vietnam during the period from 1945 down to about 1966/1967.
Who made these decisions?
Support your essay using historical evidence.
